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Woman welcomes almost 100 dogs into home during hurricane

September 10th, 2019

By Caryl Jane Espiritu

Contributor at Shareably

A woman living in Nassau, Bahamas did not hesitate to welcome 97 rescue dogs in her home so they can be saved from the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian. She posted her amazing story on Facebook and has earned a lot of praise from people online for her kindness and generosity.

Hurricane Dorian isn’t just any typhoon. This monstrous calamity was classified as a Category 5 hurricane and was considered to be the strongest hurricane to ever strike the northwestern Bahamas in modern records. When it hit the said islands, it was highly expected that the strong winds and rain it brought would cause a lot of damage in properties, and can potentially endanger the lives of people and animals that might get trapped in its midst.

Upon hearing about the terrible news of the said hurricane and after seeing its strength firsthand, Chella Phillips decided to let 97 rescue dogs inside her home to protect them. It was a risky move because it meant managing a large number of dogs inside a home that was not designed as an animal shelter.

When she let the dogs in, she knew that her home would have to sustain a huge amount of animal urine and excrement. Her house was not that big, which meant some of the dogs would have to be in her bedroom. All in all, she took in 79 out of the 97 dogs inside her bedroom. It was truly a selfless act and if not for Chella’s genuine kindness for these pups, we’d never know if they would even survive the devastating hurricane.

Even though she had to share her bedroom with the dogs, it was fortunate that the animals did not dare jump on her bed, and she still had a place where she could rest as the storm passed by. While the category 5 hurricane raged on, Chella made sure that every dog was comfortable and out of danger’s way.

As Chella said in her post, it was an “insane night” as she had to look after almost a hundred dogs. Some of them were anxious while some were sick. Keeping the house secure and the dogs comfortable were Chella’s main concerns. She kept the air conditioning running all through the night, played calming music all around the house and barricaded the property to keep everyone safe.

Anxious and sick dogs have to be separated from the rest. They were placed under crates donated by concerned people from the neighborhood so that the animals can calm down and recuperate comfortably.

In her Facebook post, she expressed how heartbroken she was for the other homeless dogs who were not able to find a refuge in the midst of the hurricane.

“We may not get hit as hard as other islands and the saddest part is that after the hurricane leave the Bahamas, some islands will take a long time to recover. Each island has abundance of homeless dogs, my heart is so broken for the ones without a place to hide a CAT 5 monster and only God can protect them now.”

For about four years now, this amazingly selfless woman has made it her life’s purpose to help in rescuing homeless dogs and bringing them to safety. She has helped in saving nearly 1,000 pups and has no intention of stopping any time soon. She is part of a movement that aims to rescue these dogs called “The Voiceless Dogs of Nassau”. You may visit their Facebook page here if you are interested in helping them with their cause.

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